In his book Poetics, Aristotle makes a distinction between poetry and history. There is a strong contrast between the past and present tense in this passage. For these reasons, Aristotle believes that poetry is preferable to history. To begin, he argues that poetry is superior to history and philosophy since it is the earliest form of writing. To that end, he writes, “While history informs us about what has occurred, poetry informs us about what might occur in the future.” He continues by asserting that poetry is universal, whereas history is particular. Within its own confines, poetry can reveal a great deal about history and philosophy. Poetry encompasses the abstract and the essence of enlightenment, whereas history merely imparts information through historical events. As a result, poetry consistently excels and surpasses history. The historian asserts that he is more persuasive because he uses historical examples to teach practical ideals. Poets, by virtue of their dual roles, are both philosophers and historians (Carli, 304). He employs both perception and illustration. This means that poetry can entice readers by illustrating what should occur rather than what has occurred or will occur. For instance, a poetry can assist readers in learning about values and ethics.
Aristotle asserted that poetry is universal. Aristotle defined poetry as significant because it deals with universal experiences shared by people of various races, sexes, faiths, locations, and languages. Poetry has the potential to touch the hearts and minds of people of all ages. This was not the case throughout history, when just a small number of people belonging to a certain race and geographical location were directly touched by the events depicted. Unlike history, which is primarily concerned with the events themselves, poetry is concerned with the people who lived through them, their sentiments, hopes and fears, joys and sufferings, and other universally felt thoughts and emotions. North and South Korea, for example, have markedly different histories. Both the Hindu-Muslim subcontinental war and the Korean War between North and South Korea are motivated by distinct reasons. As a result, citizens of India and Korea are unable to interact. Poems have universal appeal since their meanings are understood by people worldwide. Each human being is capable of feeling and comprehending the whole range of human emotions communicated via poetry (Carli, 306). Even if the poet is writing about a historical event, such as the Subcontinent’s partition, which only a small percentage of the population observed, he will portray it through the lens of the feelings it evokes rather than just relaying the facts. Poetry is superior to history due to its pervasiveness.
